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Solo hacker used AI agents to breach more than 100 entities, researcher says

A single Chinese-speaking hacker deployed autonomous AI agents to probe over 1,200 websites and breach more than 100 organizations, including Deere and SharkNinja, at an estimated cost of roughly $5,000 in model tokens.

A lone Chinese-speaking hacker used autonomous artificial intelligence agents to target more than 1,200 websites and breach upwards of 100 entities, according to an exclusive report by Reuters correspondent Raphael Satter. The breached organizations reportedly include agricultural equipment manufacturer Deere and appliance maker SharkNinja.[4][5][6][7]

The campaign was monitored by veteran cybersecurity researcher Fagerland, who observed solo hackers tracked through exposed Cairn panels as they operated multiple AI agent stacks. Starting on September 25, the Chinese-speaking attacker unleashed agents against e-commerce websites across the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan. The attacker steered the operation using terse instructions consisting of fewer than 100 Chinese characters sketching out preferred intrusion techniques.[1]

The operation relied on a combination of China's DeepSeek and Anthropic's Claude Code models, according to Fagerland's estimates. Successful intrusions typically required roughly 23 hours of automated vulnerability probing, consuming approximately $5,000 in tokens overall—translating to roughly $50 per successful compromise. In one instance, after failing to breach a target's main application, the agents independently discovered associated infrastructure, located a public-facing control panel, and spent hours experimenting until they successfully executed arbitrary commands.[1][3]

Key facts

  • Reuters reported that a single Chinese-speaking hacker used AI agents to target more than 1,200 websites and breach over 100 organizations.
  • Breach targets included agricultural manufacturer Deere and appliance maker SharkNinja.
  • Cybersecurity researcher Fagerland tracked the solo hackers through exposed Cairn panels.
  • The hacker directed the AI agents with terse intrusion instructions of fewer than 100 Chinese characters.
  • The campaign appeared to run on a mix of DeepSeek and Anthropic's Claude Code.
  • Fagerland estimated the campaign consumed roughly $5,000 in model tokens, averaging about $50 per successful breach.
  • Successful breaches typically required around 23 hours of automated vulnerability probing.

Sources · 6 sources

  1. AC

    Andrew Curran@AndrewCurran_Post on X ·

    From the Reuters article about solo hackers who were tracked through exposed Cairn panels, and were observed using multiple agent stacks to attack sites around the world. It's no longer a safe assumption that any large scale attack like OpenCode is being done by a team. https://t.co/AJqdQgW13l

    Open source
  2. 阳明

    阳明AI@x_autonomyPost on X ·

    【AI热点】18:00-00:00 更多详细信息→https://t.co/BIqIUhWqKd 1. Disney拟通过破产程序收购https://t.co/ANGZdD5PIs团队与技术 [影响大·可执行低] 2. 黑客用AI智能体入侵John Deere等超100家网站 [影响大·可执行低] 3. OpenAI发布ChatGPT Chrome扩展可操作浏览器标签页 [影响中·可执行高]

    Open source
  3. JR

    Jr@jrbishop1616Post on X ·

    one hacker used ai agents and about $5k in tokens to break into 100+ sites, a researcher says. under 100 characters of instructions, about $50 a hack. hacking a company now costs less than dinner and a paragraph

    Open source
  4. RE

    Reuters@ReutersPost on X ·

    EXCLUSIVE: How one hacker used AI agents and a few thousand dollars to break into scores of sites https://t.co/AsVNZ43CAX https://t.co/AsVNZ43CAX

    Open source
  5. TE

    Techmeme@TechmemePost on X ·

    Researcher: a Chinese-speaking hacker used AI agents to target 1,200+ websites and breach 100+ entities, including Deere and SharkNinja, spending ~$5,000 total (@razhael / Reuters) (Visit Techmeme dot com for the link and full context!)

    Open source
  6. RE

    Reuters@ReutersPost on X ·

    EXCLUSIVE: How one hacker used AI agents and a few thousand dollars to break into scores of sites https://t.co/nNxp6JjlUu https://t.co/nNxp6JjlUu

    Open source
  7. TE

    TechmemeArticle ·

    Researcher: a Chinese-speaking hacker used AI agents to target 1,200+ websites and breach 100+ entities, like Deere and SharkNinja, spending ~$5,000 in tokens (Raphael Satter/Reuters) Raphael Satter / Reuters : Researcher: a Chinese-speaking hacker used AI agents to target 1,200+ websites and breach 100+ entities, like Deere and SharkNinja, spending ~$5,000 in tokens — Over the past couple of weeks, a cybersecurity researcher watched as a Chinese-speaking hacker broke into websites belonging …

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